BlackBerry wants to wrap up sale process by November

There have been plenty of parallels drawn between Nokia and BlackBerry over the last couple of years, so it's appropriate that the latest rumours about BB's future should surface the very same week that Microsoft's purchase of Nokia is announced.

And they're dramatic rumours too, namely that BlackBerry is looking to wrap up any auction to sell off some or all of the business by November, and has already approached likely suitors.

According to the WSJ, talks have already taken place with parties interested in buying all or part of the company, sources report, and a shortlist of potential bidders has been drawn up with the hope of pushing through a sale as soon as November.

Whether there will be any takers is another matter. Like Nokia, BlackBerry's core business is composed of several entities, and the likely outcome could see several parties taking over different parts of the business, or only certain parts of the company changing hands in the first place.

With the news now out in the public expect every company under the sun to be connected with a BlackBerry buyout, and for not much of it to be grounded in any actual fact. So far Lenovo has said it might be interested, Huawei has said it isn't, and Microsoft hasn't ruled out some of the action itself.

Hey, "Nokia" should buy them Wouldn't that be something? BBM, BES, Nokia Maps and Mail, Pureview and MS's services all rolled into one.... Add BB's capability to run some Android stuff, add a JVM, and you're close to the perfect device....